Ashworth Nursery School

Inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996

This report may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that all extracts quoted are reproduced verbatim without adaptation and on condition that the source and date thereof are stated. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the School Inspections Act 1996, the school must provide a copy of this report and/or its summary free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Addison Close Blackburn Lancashire

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Cllr. D. J. Rishton

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: 30.9.1997 Ashworth Nursery School 4

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Team members Area of learning responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Knowledge and Understanding of the World OIN MICHAEL HEWLETT Registered inspector

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

English as an additional language How high are standards?

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

What should the school do to improve further?

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

OIN JANE HUGHES Lay inspector Pupils' attitudes, values and personal development

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

How well does the school care for its pupils?

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

How well does the school work in partnership with parents?

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Personal, Social and Emotional development

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Special educational needs OIN JUNE HUNTER Team inspector

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Equal opportunities How good are the curricular and other opportunities offered to pupils?

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Cheshire WA8 9JW

Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be raised with the inspection contractor. Complaints that are not satisfactorily resolved by the contractor should be raised with OFSTED by writing to:

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Cheshire WA8 9JW

The Registrar Inspection Quality Division

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Cheshire WA8 9JW

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Ashworth Nursery School 5

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT [6]

Information about the school How good the school is What the school does well What could be improved? How the school has improved since its last inspection Standards Pupils’ attitudes and values Teaching and learning Other aspects of the school How well the school is led and managed Parents’ and carers’ views of the school

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HOW HIGH ARE STANDARDS? [10]

The school’s results and achievements Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Ashworth Nursery School has 78 children on roll, 38 boys and 40 girls. They all attend part time. The school is situated close to the town centre of Blackburn in an area undergoing urban regeneration. They are taught by three teachers, including the headteacher. Two work full time and one part time. Three full time nursery nurses work with the teachers. In addition, one part time nursery nurse is deployed to work with children who have special educational needs. Four children have been identified as having special educational needs (5%). This is a similar figure to when the school was last inspected. A very high percentage of children (84%) do not have English as their first language. This is a much higher figure than before. Of these children, the dominant home language is Punjabi. They receive additional support in school from a teacher who works part time and from two full time bilingual assistants. These staff are employed through the local Support for Ethnic Minority

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Achievement project (SEMA). Children’s attainment on entry to school varies considerably but is below average overall. Since the last inspection more children are arriving in school with little or no English and many lack fluency in their mother tongue. There has also been an increase in the number of children who have delays in their personal, social and emotional development.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

Ashworth Nursery is a good school. It is well led and the teaching is good. The majority of children are likely to achieve standards that are in line with national expectations in most areas of learning except for communication, language and literacy where they are below. They enjoy coming to school, work hard and their behaviour is very good.

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3. What the school does well

• Teaching is good • Promotes very good relationships • Children’s pastoral care is very good and they have very positive attitudes to school • Leadership and management by the headteacher are good • Communicates well with all members of the school community and makes good efforts to involve all parents • Ensures that children who are learning English as an additional language make very good progress

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4. What could be improved

• Provision for physical development outdoors • Greater detail in some of the planning • Pace of some activities • Health and safety issues outside relating to the storage sheds

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4. What could be improved

The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan. Ashworth Nursery School 7

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

The school was last inspected in September 1997. Since then it has made good progress in many areas. The way in which it meets the needs of higher attaining children is better now that all staff are involved in planning work for them. Policies for each curriculum area have been updated and these help to support the teachers but some of the weekly planning is not yet detailed enough. As a result, the teaching focus for each activity is not always clear. Systems to identify and then help children who have special educational needs are more rigorous and governors now meet all their statutory responsibilities. This includes making sure all children get equal access to the curriculum. The quality of the teaching has also improved considerably and is now judged to be good overall. More staff are involved in checking how well the school is working and systems for assessing children’s progress are better. The school is in a strong position and is well placed to build on the good progress it has made so

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STANDARDS

Children arrive in nursery with a wide range of pre-school experiences. The majority enter with standards that are below average when compared to children of a similar age. This is particularly true in their personal, social and emotional development and in their linguistic skills, with the majority of children learning English for the first time. Some of these children also lack fluency in their mother tongue. They make rapid progress during their time in school so that by the time they leave most are on line to reach the standard expected for children of a similar age in all areas of learning except one. The exception is in some aspects of their communication, language and literacy skills where, despite skilled teaching, children’s keenness to learn and the very good progress they make, some are still unlikely to reach the expected standards by the end of the Foundation Stage because of their lower

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STANDARDS

starting point. Children with special educational needs are well supported and make good progress towards the targets set in their individual education plans. Personal development is very good. Children collaborate readily in activities; they show a good understanding of each other's needs.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Children have very good attitudes to their learning and really enjoy school. They are trustworthy and concentrate well when working independently or in groups. Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Children’s behaviour is very good. They share well and help each other. Positive behaviour is consistently promoted by the very high expectations staff have of children. Personal development and relationships Relationships are very good. Children's personal development is good and most can look after their own individual needs. The school is effective in encouraging the children's growing independence. Attendance Attendance is satisfactory and is well promoted. Most children are punctual. Ashworth Nursery School 8

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Teaching of pupils:

Lessons seen overall Good Inspectors make judgements about teaching in the range: excellent; very good; good; satisfactory; unsatisfactory; poor; very poor. ‘Satisfactory’ means that the teaching is adequate and strengths outweigh weaknesses.

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Teaching of pupils:

73% of all the teaching seen was good, 7% was very good and the rest was satisfactory. This shows a big improvement from when the school was last inspected. Then, most of the teaching was satisfactory with a small proportion unsatisfactory. The quality of the teaching is consistently good across most areas of the curriculum. Staff set high standards for the children and make sure that lessons are well organised by making good use of the resources available. They know the children well and set the tasks at just the right level of difficulty. They plan most of their work well but some lesson plans lack enough detail to adequately support the teaching. This is particularly true of plans for teaching physical development outside. Most lessons move at a brisk pace and children stay interested and actively involved throughout. There are a small number of occasions when this is not the case and children’s learning slows. An example of this was seen when children waited longer than necessary to

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Teaching of pupils:

Teaching of communication, language and literacy is good. This is because all staff focus on improving children’s skills in this area and track their progress so carefully.

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum The school provides a good range of stimulating learning activities indoors. The range outdoors is more limited. Most lesson plans help the teaching but greater detail is needed in some, especially for physical development. Provision for pupils with special educational needs Good provision. Children’s individual learning needs are being well met. Effective support and good teaching enable the children to achieve well. Provision for pupils with English as an additional language Children for whom English is an additional language are very well supported. They make very good progress during their time in nursery. All staff work closely to ensure that children experience the full curriculum range. Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Good provision is made for aspects of children’s personal development with very good provision for children’s cultural development. Early

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Aspect Comment

experiences in the development of spiritual, moral, social and cultural areas are sensitively encouraged through well planned activities and good adult example. How well the school cares for its pupils The school takes very good care of the children and promotes warm relationships with them. Staff are very consistent in their management of behaviour and children gradually grow in confidence. Ashworth Nursery School 9

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and manage- ment by the headteacher and other key staff The leadership and management of the school are good. The headteacher and staff have created a very positive atmosphere for learning. The headteacher leads by example and has set a clear direction for the school. How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities The governing body knows the school well. It fulfils all its statutory responsibilities and provides a good level of support to the headteacher. The school’s evaluation of its performance Good systems are in place, which collect detailed information about the progress of individual children. This information is used well to check on the progress made by each year group and the school’s success in different curriculum areas. The strategic use of resources Good use is made of the limited financial resources available. The school does not have a delegated budget but seeks out value for money

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Aspect Comment

Staffing levels are good and meet the needs of the children. Accommodation is good indoors and is satisfactory outdoors. Resources for learning are good in most areas but only adequate for physical development outdoors. This is because there is limited climbing apparatus available to help children improve their physical skills.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

• Children like school and they behave very well. • Self confidence and independence are encouraged. • Children make good progress, especially those who are learning English as an additional language and those who have special educational needs. • Staff are approachable and friendly. Most parents would feel confident about approaching the school with questions or problems. • The school is well led and managed. • Teaching is good. • Some parents would welcome more information about their children’s progress. • Some felt that the school does not work closely with parents. • Arrangements for using the cloakrooms at home time are difficult due to congestion.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

The inspection findings confirm parents’ positive views about the school. It has established an effective partnership with them and gives them a good level of information about their child's progress. They are extremely positive in their views on almost all aspects of the school. It promotes very positive attitudes amongst the children and encourages very good behaviour. Children enjoy coming to school and, once there, they are well taught. Staff try hard to work closely with parents. For example, the school encourages children to take some activities home with them. It gives careful consideration to the way it communicates with the high percentage of non English speaking parents. Inspectors monitored the use of cloakrooms at home time. No evidence of unacceptable congestion was seen. Ashworth Nursery School 10

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The school’s results and achievements

1. Children arrive in nursery with a wide range of pre-school experiences. The majority enter with standards that are below average when compared to children of a similar age. This is particularly true in their personal, social and emotional development and in their linguistic skills, with the majority of children learning English for the first time. Some of these also lack fluency in their mother tongue. Standards on entry to school are lower than those found during the last inspection.

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The school’s results and achievements

2. All children, including those with English as an additional language and those with special educational needs, make significant gains in their learning. In the majority of areas, children are well on line to achieve the Early Learning Goals which are the standards they are expected to reach by the end of the Foundation Stage. The exception is in communication, language and literacy where most are unlikely reach the expected levels. This is despite the very good progress they make, particularly in their speaking and listening skills, during their time in nursery. These standards are similar to those found during the last inspection.

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The school’s results and achievements

3. In their personal, social and emotional development, children make good progress during their time in nursery and most are likely to meet the national standards. Children’s confidence is growing, they are eager to try new things and they are friendly to both adults and children. They behave extremely well and work and play happily with others. They co-operate with all adults and children treating each other with consideration and kindness. They know how to take their turn and share resources with others. Children handle equipment and materials with care and make choices about what they will do. They have positive attitudes to their learning and work with a sense of purpose.

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The school’s results and achievements

4. Improving children’s language and literacy skills is given a very high priority within the nursery and all staff encourage children to practise their emerging language skills. Children are attentive and respond positively when asked to do something as, for example, when they pass on a message to another group or tell their friends to tidy up in the home area. They gradually extend their vocabularies as a result of the well organised bilingual support they receive. For example, this helps them to retell a story they have heard even though they have few words in English. Children enjoy reading books and treat them properly, turning the pages carefully and making sure they are returned to the library area when they have finished with them. A few higher attainers make good attempts at writing their own names, while the majority are able to make marks on the cards they have produced for Christmas and

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The school’s results and achievements

Eid celebrations. A few are able to identify some of the letters in words they find around the nursery.

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The school’s results and achievements

5. Numeracy skills are developing well with most of the children able to count to ten and many counting much higher than this. A feature of their work is the way in which children are able to apply their knowledge in practical situations. For example, a group of children were able to solve simple addition and subtraction calculations as they tried to work out how many would be allowed to play with the water at the sink. They counted the number of aprons left and then decided two more places were available. Their use of mathematical language is improving and they are beginning to talk about position, shape, size and quantity using a combination of English and mother tongue.

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The school’s results and achievements

6. Children are curious about the world around them and they take advantage of the many and varied experiences they are given. Many are on course to meet the standards expected at the end of the Foundation Stage in their knowledge and understanding of the world. They observe what happens during simple experiments, for example, how the texture of sand changes when water is added. They Ashworth Nursery School 11 use their imagination and knowledge of the world well in their painting and model making. Children enjoy using computers. Many know how to use the programmes independently, changing shapes and sizes using the mouse to control the screen.

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The school’s results and achievements

7. Standards in physical development are in line with the expected national standard. Children have a good awareness of space and others as, for example, when they move their bodies to music. They are skilful at using tools such as pencils, crayons, felt pens and scissors.

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The school’s results and achievements

8. Children are beginning to develop co-ordination and skill as they ride tricycles and other wheeled vehicles around the playground. However, they get too few opportunities to practise their skills.

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The school’s results and achievements

9. Standards in creative development are similar to those found during the school’s last inspection. Children are in line to meet the expected national standard by the end of the Foundation Stage. They explore and make good use of their imagination by using a variety of materials such as dough, paint, glue and collage. They listen and respond to music through songs and dance. All enter into role play enthusiastically, for example, either working in the post office or dressing up as fairies.

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The school’s results and achievements

10. Children who are learning English as an additional language make very good progress in developing their language skills during their time in nursery. They achieve well because they are so keen to learn, work for them is set at the correct level and they receive such skilled support from all staff.

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The school’s results and achievements

11. The small percentage of children who are identified as having special educational needs learn at a good pace when compared to their previous attainment. Some of them have complex needs and they receive good support from the staff who work with them.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES, VALUES AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

12. Children have very good attitudes to learning and come happily to school. They adjust quite quickly to the daily routines even though, for many, attending school is a big culture shock. Most of the children do not speak English when they start school but they are eager to participate in the interesting activities presented by staff. The small proportion of children whose mother tongue is English set good examples for the others to copy. They happily take the lead when singing Christmas songs, for example, until other children become familiar with the words. Children show equal interest in each other’s cultural traditions; they are just as comfortable making a Christmas card as discussing the changing shape of the moon during Ramadan. Children concentrate very well for their age and try very hard to remember all the new vocabulary they hear. Some became very excited when they remembered the names of particular objects chosen from “Christmas stockings” such as tinsel,

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES, VALUES AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

13. Standards of behaviour are very good throughout the nursery and this enables children to enjoy the secure and welcoming environment created by the headteacher and staff. Children are familiar with the school’s high expectations and they respond quickly whenever staff correct their behaviour. No evidence of any bullying or racial disharmony was seen during the inspection and there have been no exclusions from school during the last year. Children model their behaviour on the very good examples offered by adults in the school. Most children understand the difference between right and wrong because staff are very careful to correct any unacceptable behaviour and to praise all the very good efforts the children make. Children listen very carefully and follow instructions as best they can. For example, most tidy up very well, sweeping sand into the dustpan and collecting up bricks at the end of

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES, VALUES AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

the session. A few are happy spectators until chivvied by staff and then they play their part in clearing away. Ashworth Nursery School 12 14. The quality of relationships is consistently very good between adults and children and between children and their peers; there is a lively and warm working environment within the school. Children are kind and considerate to each other and the more confident ones offer help to others who are having difficulties. The quality of relationships is enhanced by the input from the bilingual support staff who interpret when needed. They add greatly to children’s sense of well-being.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES, VALUES AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

15. Children’s personal development is good. They take care of their own personal needs and, when given the opportunity, help one another. An example of this was seen when children helped their friends to put on aprons before they started playing in the water. Some show good levels of initiative such as the little girl who, while waiting with the rest of her group to go outside to play, distributed five chairs from the stack by the door and sat everyone round in a circle.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES, VALUES AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

16. Levels of attendance are satisfactory although a significant number of children from different cultural backgrounds are absent abroad for extended periods. This disrupts their education and makes it more difficult for them to consolidate their grasp of the English language. Attendance registers are carefully completed and children’s places are reallocated if they are persistently absent. The majority of children are brought to school on time by parents and carers.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES, VALUES AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

17. Parents are very happy with the positive ethos of the school. The school has maintained the standards reported at the last inspection except for behaviour which is even better.

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HOW WELL ARE THE PUPILS TAUGHT?

18. The overall quality of the teaching is good. In 73% of observations teaching was good, in 7% it was very good and in 20% it was satisfactory. None of the teaching seen was unsatisfactory. This shows a big improvement from the last inspection when 90% was satisfactory, a small amount was good and an equally small amount was unsatisfactory. The reason for the improvement is because most of the weaknesses identified last time have been remedied. For example, higher attainers are given work which is more suited to their needs and there is a better level of support for bilingual children.

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HOW WELL ARE THE PUPILS TAUGHT?

19. Staff make children feel secure so they settle more easily and become more independent. For those with limited spoken language, the presence of trusted adults enables them to communicate their needs and participate fully. A good example of this was seen at snack time when all children were expected to select their own snack and pour their own drinks; tasks that they all completed successfully. Those who found some difficulty in understanding their expectations were given patient support and an adult stayed with them until they were successful.

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HOW WELL ARE THE PUPILS TAUGHT?

20. Staff have a good knowledge and understanding of the needs of young children and, quite rightly, focus their attention on developing language skills, which they achieve successfully. They do this by skilful questioning and by introducing new words linked to what the children are doing. They listen carefully to what the children say and give full responses in English or a combination of English and mother tongue. They show children how to use books properly and how to listen to stories and there were many observations of children enjoying books. Staff make particularly good use of the small library area where they can sit comfortably with children. They are good at encouraging them to retell their favourite story or predict what might happen next using picture clues. On one occasion, a bilingual assistant was working with a boy who had little understanding of English. She was sharing the class

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HOW WELL ARE THE PUPILS TAUGHT?

storybook, “Mog’s Christmas”, and the boy was able to share some of the words he knew from the story. His confidence was increased in the knowledge that if he was stuck, the bilingual assistant would help him out using his mother tongue. This encouraged him to try some longer words like Ashworth Nursery School 13 ‘Christmas’ and ‘family’ that he had not used before. Children learn quicker on such occasions and such support also helps to build their self esteem.

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HOW WELL ARE THE PUPILS TAUGHT?

21. Teaching of mathematical development is similarly successful because adults set work at suitable levels. The work with higher attaining children is better than when the school was last inspected. Then headteacher plans activities so that children who cope well with tasks are given harder work. This was seen with a group of children playing with jigsaws. The table was set up with jigsaws ranging from three to nine pieces. This allowed the adult to give them work at the correct level and then question each child to make sure they understood some of the properties of the shape they were working with. On occasions such as these, children work hard and make good progress because the adult is aware of what they need to do next. It is this regular monitoring of children that is a strong feature of the school’s work. On occasions, the pace of the learning slows and this is usually because children are

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HOW WELL ARE THE PUPILS TAUGHT?

not challenged or encouraged to keep their learning purposeful. For example, some children who were queuing to use the ‘telephone’ in the imaginative play waited patiently for their turn but spent too much time in the queue. Adults talked to them as they passed but did not redirect them to other activities which were taking place nearby.

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HOW WELL ARE THE PUPILS TAUGHT?

22. The good quality teaching is found in all the areas of children’s learning. This degree of consistency improves children’s learning opportunities because it means there is always a wide range of interesting and worthwhile activities available for them to choose from. This aspect of the teaching has improved because planning of most lessons is better. All staff contribute to the planning which sets out what staff want children to learn and describes what activities will be organised. This helps to ensure that each group follows a similar approach. There are still some exceptions to this where the planning lacks sufficient detail to support the teaching adequately. An example of this was seen in planning for outdoor physical development where the lesson plan did not set out what skills the children were expected to learn. As a result, learning opportunities were missed.

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HOW WELL ARE THE PUPILS TAUGHT?

23. Adults manage the children well. They expect high standards of behaviour and children are very clear about these expectations as they are constantly reinforced throughout the school day. The school is well organised and children learn to help at tidy up time. They develop responsible attitudes to the jobs they are given. Very good relationships are apparent and children feel confident and secure within a well ordered learning environment.

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HOW WELL ARE THE PUPILS TAUGHT?

24. Staff make good use of most available resources to support their teaching. For example, information and communications technology is used by teachers to improve the curriculum very effectively. Staff are more confident about the teaching skills needed for this area than they were before and there is a better range of software to suit the needs of nursery age children.

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HOW WELL ARE THE PUPILS TAUGHT?

25. Good use is made of links with parents to support and extend children’s learning. Bilingual staff play a valuable role in ensuring that these good links are maintained because they can translate for some parents who speak only in their mother tongue. All staff work closely with any parent who has specific concerns. The good relationships with parents help children to consolidate their learning at home.

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PUPILS?

26. The school has made good progress in addressing the curriculum issues raised by the previous inspection and has maintained the strengths identified at that time. Ashworth Nursery School 14 27. A considerable amount of time has been spent improving the curriculum since the last inspection and good progress has been made. The curriculum covers all the areas of learning that young children should experience. Clear policies for all the areas of learning are in place, topics are interesting and chosen to motivate learning. A wide range of stimulating, practical activities are carefully planned to take account of the children’s intellectual, emotional, social and physical development. However, although the range of activities indoors is particularly well developed, activities for children’s physical development outdoors are limited and do not take place often enough.

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PUPILS?

28. Curriculum planning is better. All staff, teachers, nursery nurses, support nursery nurses and bilingual staff work together to plan, organise and develop the curriculum. A high priority is now given to the teaching of mathematical skills as well as early reading and writing skills. These are carefully planned so that they are included throughout the activities the children undertake. Activities in all areas of learning are now planned to meet the needs of all the children. For example, work planned for the higher attaining children is better and they make good progress. However, more work is needed. Some planning, including that for physical skill development outdoors, is not consistent and not always sufficiently detailed to be helpful to the teaching. The headteacher has already identified this area of planning for improvement.

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PUPILS?

29. Good provision is made for children with special educational needs. Sensitive support by the staff ensures the children can take part in the wide variety of activities and have equal opportunities throughout the nursery. Staff plan for the special needs of these children carefully, support them well and monitor their progress closely. They make good progress towards the targets in their individual education plans which outline the skills and experiences they need to develop. Teachers, support staff and outside agencies work closely with the parents of these children. Some children’s special needs are already identified before they start nursery, through the very good links the school has developed. Arrangements in the nursery for identifying other children with special educational needs and those who are low attainers have improved since the last inspection. All staff know the children well and any

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PUPILS?

who may be a cause for concern are quickly and sensitively identified. Appropriate work is planned for them which is reviewed regularly ensuring good progress in all aspects of the curriculum.

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PUPILS?

30. Staff are very much aware of the differing needs of children learning English as an additional language, in gaining confidence to communicate. These children are supported well and sufficient time is given to talking to them or explaining instructions carefully. All children have clear, individual targets for their learning. The good support they receive ensures the children can take part in their chosen activities, make good progress and have equal opportunities.

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PUPILS?

31. A wide range of educational visits is made to support topics in the curriculum. A visit to a farm, to the seaside or to the local shops, for example, broadens and enriches children’s learning.

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PUPILS?

32. The school is successful in establishing very good links with partner schools and colleges. Links with other nurseries and reception classes are good. Through a development forum, colleagues meet together regularly to improve and develop their work with young children. Links with the schools to which the majority of the children transfer are very good. Good links are established with a special needs nursery with some children attending both nurseries during part of the week. The nursery has strong links with the colleges of further education; pupils and students attend the school on work placements and they make a positive contribution to the children’s learning.

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PUPILS?

33. Overall, the school makes good provision for children’s personal development. Provision for children’s spiritual development is good. Opportunities are provided for children to relax and reflect quietly during the session. Classical music, such as the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy is played softly as children lie quietly on the floor. There are carefully planned opportunities for children to show Ashworth Nursery School 15 wonder as well as spontaneous ones which are linked to children’s responses to experiences. For example, children selecting shiny coloured paper, tinsel and glitter to make a Christmas collage were given time to look in wonder at their hands and clothes as a dish of glitter spilled over.

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PUPILS?

34. The provision for moral and social development is also good. The school is successful in helping children to understand the difference between right and wrong. Children’s behaviour is very good. Adults teach children to behave with self control, to be tolerant, courteous and to have good manners. All learn about sharing and caring and are keen to help others. For example, children running in the playground stopped and showed a child which was the blue square they all had to stand in.

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PUPILS?

35. The provision for children’s cultural development is very good. This is a great improvement from the last inspection when cultural development was judged to be only adequate. All areas of the curriculum are used to extend children’s awareness and knowledge of their own culture and that of others. Respect for, and valuing of, other cultures is introduced through the celebration of festivals, different foods, stories and music. At this time of the year, all children are taught about Ramadan and Eid and Advent followed by Christmas and make cards to take home to their parents and friends. Wall displays of the phases of the moon, the Christmas star, a mosque and a church arouse children’s interest and bilingual staff encourage the children to use their home language to describe to others what they can see.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

36. The school makes very good provision for the pastoral care of all children, including those with special educational needs and those for whom English is an additional language. There is good provision for the educational and personal support and guidance of the children and this helps them to enjoy school and to make good progress. Staff know the children well.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

37. Very secure child protection arrangements are in place; these are well co-ordinated by the teacher responsible and all adults working in the school are familiar with the procedures. All staff are very conscientious in their duty of care. Effective links are maintained with the appropriate authorities and the school is currently updating its child protection policy in line with the most recent guidance received from the new Blackburn with Darwen authority.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

38. Appropriate attention is paid to health and safety issues. The site is clean and well maintained and children enjoy the cheerful classrooms. The school has identified one hazard on site which is the outside storage huts. These have a very small gap between them, just wide enough for a child to slide into and become stuck. The same huts have pebbledash walls which are very sharp and potentially dangerous when small children are running around outside. Students are provided with all the relevant safety information when they begin work placements in school. There are good arrangements in place for the provision and recording of first aid.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

39. Attendance registers are carefully and promptly completed at the start of each session. Absence is carefully monitored and parents are advised of the rule about the reallocation of places should they take their children abroad for long periods of time. It is very difficult for the school to maintain high levels of attendance because of the large numbers of children who need to visit relatives abroad during school time.

p.15

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

40. Effective induction procedures and transfer arrangements ensure that children learn to enjoy school quickly and transfer to full time education with minimum disruption or anxiety. Good links with outside support agencies such as educational psychologists and speech therapists ensure children receive the correct levels of support to promote effective learning. Ashworth Nursery School 16 41. The school promotes very good behaviour through the consistent approach taken by all staff. Children understand what is acceptable and staff are quick to praise good behaviour and to encourage children to see when their behaviour has a negative impact on others. There is no racial harassment or bullying and the whole school community works and plays very well together.

p.15

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

42. Assessment procedures used by the school are good and have improved since the last inspection. The initial assessments made by staff provide a clear starting point against which they can judge how well a child develops while in the school. Staff track progress during individual observations and make concise notes about each child in turn. These are transferred termly onto the record sheets which provide a detailed breakdown of what each child can do by the time they leave the school. The headteacher recognises the value of this process and ensures all staff are given some time in school to complete their assessments.

p.16

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

43. Staff make good use of the information they derive from assessments. They discuss children’s progress weekly and alter their plans accordingly. All staff are involved in this process and are able to amend their planning to ensure children receive the correct level of challenge through the activities offered. For example, when most children were only expected to name one missing object from the items in the Christmas stockings, higher attaining children were encouraged to name two or even three in order to extend their learning. Children with special educational needs are quickly identified when they start school. The individual plans to support these children are very clear and offer appropriate levels of challenge. Termly targets are set for each child; many of these have some focus on communication which is a major priority for staff. Much of the planning is more effective than when the school was last inspected.

p.16

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

44. Standards of pastoral care are as high as those reported at the time of the last inspection. Procedures to assess the work children do and the progress they make are better than before and are now good.

p.16

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

45. Parents are very positive about most aspects of the school’s provision and state that their children like coming to school. They are particularly appreciative of the leadership given by the headteacher and of the quality of teaching. Some parents would like more information about the progress their children make and a few feel that the school does not work closely enough with parents.

p.16

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

46. The school establishes a good partnership with parents. The vast majority of parents feel comfortable about coming into school with any questions and concerns and find staff approachable. The bilingual staff provide a very valuable service for parents and staff, interpreting and translating verbal and written information. The headteacher is very concerned to meet the needs of the large proportion of parents who do not speak English fluently and regularly asks if these parents would like more information translated for them. Usually they refuse this offer. However, bilingual staff are making a taped version of the school prospectus in Punjabi and Urdu and are also beginning to make tapes of some of the books children read in school. The prospectus is detailed and provides parents with a good overview of the school’s ethos and daily routines. Useful information about the curriculum is displayed where parents pass daily; staff ensure these displays acknowledge and represent the

p.16

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

cultural differences which exist within the school’s catchment area.

p.16

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

47. Good quality reports are produced for parents. These give a clear indication of what their children can do and what they need to do next to improve. The headteacher and staff take particular care in the way they record this information to ensure all parents can access the main points without difficulty. Ashworth Nursery School 17 There is a dual recording process in both written and pictorial format. This is of major benefit to those parents who do not understand written English very well as they can look in their child’s assessment folder at any time and follow their progress through the diagrams and charts completed by staff. Bilingual staff are always available to answer questions and this, too, helps to set parents’ minds at rest. At the end of the Autumn term, the headteacher invites parents to comment on how well their child has settled in school; similarly, when they reach the end of their time at Ashworth, parents

p.16

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

comment again. Such open channels of communication allow parents to influence school practice and this has a positive impact on home-school communication.

p.17

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

48. Parents’ involvement in their children’s learning, both at school and at home is satisfactory. The school encourages parents to help in classrooms but few parents accept this invitation. For many, this is because they lack confidence in their ability to communicate well enough with staff and children. Parents do support any requests staff make for particular resources to be sent into school – to support special “colour” days, for example. Many parents are happy to accompany children on educational visits and most attend the annual “Graduation Ceremony” when their children get ready to transfer to a local primary school. Some parents are happy to assemble resources or sew items at home and occasionally, a parent with a specific skill will come in to share it with the children. Children are encouraged to make books and take them home to read or share with their families. Staff also produce a number of worksheet activities, again with a pictorial base, which children and parents can

p.17

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

complete together at home to reinforce work started in school. The clear illustrations make the tasks less daunting for non-English speaking parents and are another example of how well considered the home school liaison is becoming.

p.17

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

49. The school continues to work very hard to establish good home-school links. Provision is similar to that reported at the last inspection.

p.17

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

50. The headteacher provides good leadership. Working with all colleagues, she has overcome the weaknesses identified in the last inspection and sets a clear educational direction for the school. There is a strong sense of teamwork and relationships are very good. All staff are involved in planning and deciding the school’s priorities. This information is then contained within the school development plan which provides a clear picture of how the school will progress in the future. Better systems are in place to check how successful the plan has been with regular evaluations made. This helps to make it a valuable document as it sets out detailed targets for improvement over a longer timescale.

p.17

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

51. The school’s aims were produced just before the last inspection. They are regularly reviewed and are translated into all aspects of the school’s life. The headteacher leads by example and she teaches full time. This enables her to set high standards in her own practice to which other colleagues respond.

p.17

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

52. The membership of the governing body has changed considerably in recent years. The previous criticisms made of its work no longer apply. It meets regularly and fulfils all its statutory responsibilities. Policies are presented to the group and are discussed and sometimes amended before they are formally approved. Governors have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and support the headteacher and staff well. Individual members take on responsibility for certain aspects of school life such as special educational needs and they visit the school regularly.

p.17

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

53. Valuable information is collected from parents when children start school. This enables staff to target extra support to those children who require it and then keep a check on the progress they make during the year. The headteacher has also produced statistics which allow her to compare the performance of different year groups, measuring how successful the school has been. Ashworth Nursery School 18 54. Systems for monitoring the planning and teaching have improved considerably since the last inspection. All staff are involved in appraising performance and there is a commitment to improving the quality of the teaching and children’s learning. At the end of sessions, staff compare notes on individual attainment and this helps them to keep records updated. They also meet to discuss how each topic will be organized and then to evaluate how successful they have been.

p.17

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

55. Communication systems used within the school are good. Staff are kept well informed and the school is beginning to make good use of its Internet access to improve efficiency. The school operates very smoothly with responsibility for the administration shared between the school secretary and the headteacher.

p.18

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

56. The school does not have a delegated budget and is responsible for only a limited amount of money. There is wide consultation undertaken when financial decisions are being made and donations to the school are put to good effect. These have allowed staff to purchase a good range of additional resources and equipment. For example, money has been put aside to improve the provision for physical development outside which is one of the school’s priorities.

p.18

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

57. There are a good number of well qualified and experienced staff to teach the children. Additional funds are allocated in the form of staffing to support children who are learning English as an additional language and those with special educational needs. It is all used to good effect in providing extra support for children with specific problems. The good progress made by children with special educational needs and the very good progress made by those learning English as an additional language illustrates just how successful this has been.

p.18

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

58. Resources are good for most areas of learning. They are well used and thoughtfully organised. This helps children to become more independent as, for example, they help themselves to art materials or mathematical equipment. The exception is in the quality of resources for outdoor play which are inadequate because there are too few climbing resources. The learning environment is enhanced through thoughtful displays which celebrate children’s work and achievements.

p.18

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

59. Accommodation, indoors, is good and outside it is satisfactory but there are some potential safety hazards that need to be addressed. These are the pebbledashed toy stores and the narrow gap between them.

p.18

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(1) Raise standards and improve the provision for physical development outdoors by:

p.18

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• Making sure outdoor activities are regularly planned for • Ensuring that a suitable amount of space is available • Providing a better range of apparatus for children to use • Address the health and safety issues outside by removing the potential hazards associated with two pebbledashed buildings in the outside play areas

p.18

(paragraphs 8, 27, 38, 58, 59, 98, 102)

(2) Include greater detail in short term planning so that it makes it clear what children are expected to learn in each activity.

p.18

(paragraphs 22, 28, 93, 98)

(3) Increase the pace of some activities to ensure that children's work remains purposeful. Ashworth Nursery School 19 For example, make sure that when children are playing in the home corner the adults working with them offer suitable levels of guidance and support.

p.18

Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of lessons observed 53 Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 25

p.20

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor - 7 73 20 - - - The table gives the percentage of teaching observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about lessons.

p.20

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 78 Number of full-time pupils eligible for free school meals Na FTE means full-time equivalent.

p.20

Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Nursery Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 0 Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 4

p.20

Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils Number of pupils with English as an additional language 66

p.20

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 19 Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 19 Ashworth Nursery School 21

p.20

Teachers and classes Financial information

Qualified teachers and support staff Financial year 1999/2000 Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 2.6 Number of pupils per qualified teacher 15 £ Total income 15687 Total number of education support staff 5.5 Total expenditure 15687 Total aggregate hours worked per week 179 Expenditure per pupil 314 Balance brought forward from previous year 0 Number of pupils per FTE adult 5 Balance carried forward to next year 0 FTE means full-time equivalent. The school does not have a delegated budget Ashworth Nursery School 22

p.21

Results of the survey of parents and carers

Number of questionnaires sent out 78 Number of questionnaires returned 49

p.22

Results of the survey of parents and carers

Percentage of responses in each category Strongly agree Tend to agree Tend to disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know

p.22

Results of the survey of parents and carers

My child is making good progress in school. 51 39 - - 10

p.22

Results of the survey of parents and carers

Behaviour in the school is good. 65 29 - - 4 My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 20 27 18 6 12

p.22

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The teaching is good. 71 27 - - 2 I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 43 39 10 4 2

p.22

Results of the survey of parents and carers

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 71 18 2 - 6

p.22

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 57 31 2 2 4

p.22

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school works closely with parents. 47 33 10 - 8

p.22

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school is well led and managed. 76 18 - 4 2 The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 67 24 4 2 -

p.22

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 45 22 10 - 16

p.22

Results of the survey of parents and carers

• N.B. Not all rows add to 100 because some questions did not receive a response

p.22

Results of the survey of parents and carers

Staff make children feel comfortable in school Children are very happy and learn a lot Ashworth Nursery School 23

p.22

PROVISION FOR CHILDREN WITH ENGLISH AS AN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE

60. The provision for pupils who are learning English as an additional language is good. It has improved considerably since the last inspection when equality of access for children learning English was criticised. At the time of the inspection, 66 children had English as an additional language and of these 48 were at an early stage of English language acquisition. This is a higher proportion than before. The majority have Punjabi as the home language, with a few Urdu speaking families, some Gujerati and one or two Pushto, Bengali and Kutchi speakers. As well as being new to English, some of the children also lack fluency in their mother tongue. During their time in nursery, they make rapid progress. This is because of the skilled teaching and their keenness to learn. Nevertheless, the majority are unlikely to reach the standards expected in communication, language and literacy by the time they reach the end of the Foundation Stage.

p.23

PROVISION FOR CHILDREN WITH ENGLISH AS AN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE

61. The school has 3 staff who are employed to work with these children. The part time teacher and two bilingual nursery nurses are funded through the local Support for Ethnic Minority Achievement project (SEMA). The two nursery nurses are of Asian heritage and both are fluent in Urdu, Punjabi and English.

p.23

PROVISION FOR CHILDREN WITH ENGLISH AS AN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE

62. A strength of the provision is the way all staff work very closely together to promote language development. They plan for and offer children an interesting range of suitable activities, often targeting small groups or individuals where necessary. These arrangements are flexible and meet the needs of the children well. For example, during some sessions the whole class comes together for a story which is read in English initially and then translated by the bilingual nursery nurses. At other times, children are grouped according to their stage of English language acquisition. This enables the staff to focus more accurately on particular need and to encourage children to contribute either in English or mother tongue depending on their stage of development. This improves their confidence at the same time.

p.23

PROVISION FOR CHILDREN WITH ENGLISH AS AN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE

63. Good links are maintained with the school’s coordinator for special educational needs. This helps to ensure that children with limited English who have needs in other areas are not missed. The school has a good range of resources to support the teaching. Staff make good use of games and photographs to engage children’s interest and this helps their learning. Home languages are celebrated and the school has a good range of displays, books and notices in other languages. A good example of this is the way in which bilingual assistants produce story tapes for children to use. Accurate assessments are made of children’s language development as they start school and this checklist of attainment is regularly updated in the light of observations of children made by staff when they are in school. This information is used well to plan future work.

p.23

Personal and Social and Emotional Development

64. The children’s personal, social and emotional development is broadly in line with what can be expected for their age. This is an area in which the teaching and development of skills are seen as a high priority. Most of the children enter the nursery with low levels of awareness and skills, but due to the good teaching they make swift progress. They learn very quickly and although many of the three year olds have only been in the nursery for a few weeks they are already settled in their groups. The staff’s high expectations and effective support help children with special educational needs to make good progress throughout their time in the nursery. Children who are learning English as an additional Ashworth Nursery School 24 language are well guided by the sensitive support of all adults. Their progress is carefully monitored, and help in their home language is given when needed to help their understanding, and assist them

p.23

Personal and Social and Emotional Development

65. The teaching for personal, social and emotional development was good in three quarters of lessons and the rest was satisfactory. The teachers and all staff are skilled at establishing very effective relationships with the children. As a result of this, children are happy and growing in confidence as they move around the nursery. Many can choose an activity for themselves and use the equipment and resources with great care.

p.24

Personal and Social and Emotional Development

66. Adults are good role models and constantly reinforce good work habits. Children develop positive attitudes to their learning and they persevere and concentrate on their work. All staff encourage the children to be independent. They learn to accept responsibility for carrying out simple tasks such as putting on aprons, tiding up after activities and being responsible for their own coats and belongings. Well established routines ensure that few children need help with the toilet or to wash and dry their hands.

p.24

Personal and Social and Emotional Development

67. Children are encouraged to be kind to each other, for example, by being patient and helping the children with special educational needs as they pour water from kettles and teapots into cups, beakers and jugs. Some children are beginning to be aware of the feelings of their friends. For example, they quickly alerted an adult when a child became upset because she had something in her eye. When she came back to the group her friend sat next to her until she felt better.

p.24

Personal and Social and Emotional Development

68. All adults in the nursery set high expectations of good behaviour and the children respond well. Their behaviour throughout the session is very good. They concentrate, listen intently to instructions and keep to the nursery rules. They know that they must always walk in the nursery, for example, and that they must wait until it is their turn on the computer before sitting on the yellow chair.

p.24

Personal and Social and Emotional Development

69. Children are becoming aware of how their actions affect others. Most understand the need to share pieces of the construction kit, fairly, when making models of tractors and cranes and some work together harmoniously taking turns to build each level of a ‘large block of flats’. Adults encourage children to be polite to everyone in the nursery. Some children are beginning to say they are sorry spontaneously, for example, in either English or their mother tongue as they accidentally knocked against a visitor.

p.24

Personal and Social and Emotional Development

70. The effective organisation and management of the nursery session gives children the opportunity to develop and consolidate personal and social skills. Careful assessments note the children’s progress so that individual needs for support are not overlooked. Work covered in this area of learning makes a strong contribution to children’s spiritual, social, moral and cultural development.

p.24

Communication, Language and Literacy

71. The majority of children enter school with speaking and listening skills in English that are well below the expected levels for children of their age. A high proportion of children (84%) are learning English as an additional language and the majority of these are unlikely to reach the expected standards by the time they are six. Nevertheless, they make very good progress during their time in nursery. This is because for most of the time they receive skilled teaching and they are so keen to learn. Most will join in activities even if they will not speak. They are able to follow instructions and make good use of verbal gestures to indicate meaning. Children watch carefully and are able to join in the chorus of simple rhymes, as for example, when they practise songs for Christmas and Eid Ashworth Nursery School 25 celebrations. This has helped children to increase their vocabulary but for most the ability to express

p.24

Communication, Language and Literacy

themselves confidently is still limited.

p.25

Communication, Language and Literacy

72. They enjoy using the writing area and home corner which is set up as a post office. The majority can hold a pencil well and all the children produced a Christmas and Eid card, making a mark to indicate their name is written on it. Skills in this area are at an early stage of development.

p.25

Communication, Language and Literacy

73. Children enjoy listening to stories and sharing books with adults. For example, a large number each day chose to look at books in the library area. They regularly take books home to share with their parents and carers. Some are able to recognise their name in print but most still need to use a picture to select a card for registration.

p.25

Communication, Language and Literacy

74. A small proportion of children (16%) have English as their mother tongue. They arrive in school with a wide range of pre school experiences and many of them have experienced delays in their language development. They receive good levels of support from all staff and make good progress as a result. Some higher attainers are well on target to reach the expected standard by the end of the Foundation Stage but the majority are not.

p.25

Communication, Language and Literacy

75. Teaching is good and staff use imaginative play effectively to improve children’s language skills. They provide good role models for children to copy. For example, one adult took on the role of the post office assistant and asked a small group what they would need to do to get their letters posted in time. They were able to respond using phrases such as “stamp it now” and “put it in the box”. She asked the questions in such a way that those in the group with a poorer understanding of English were not inhibited in any way. They stayed confident and were happy to make a contribution at their own level. Similarly, the small number of children who were already confident users of English were asked more complex questions and were expected to respond by using suitable words in the correct order. As a result of such good teaching, children made rapid progress and learned quickly.

p.25

Communication, Language and Literacy

76. Not all the teaching was as good as this, although none seen was judged to be unsatisfactory. In the more ordinary lessons, the pace of the learning was not as brisk and some time was wasted. An example of this was seen in the home corner once again, when the adult support was not as regular and their play lacked purpose. Some learning opportunities were missed.

p.25

Communication, Language and Literacy

77. Most children respond well to the lessons. They concentrate well and remain actively involved until their work has been completed. They have a positive attitude to literacy. For example, they choose to “write” or act out stories and everyday events. This contributes to the good progress they make.

p.25

Communication, Language and Literacy

78. Children who are identified as having special educational needs receive a good level of skilled, adult support. They have detailed programmes of work which give them the opportunity to make consistently good progress. Children enjoy their work because staff make it interesting and they experience success in what they do.

p.25

Mathematical Development

79. Overall, children make good progress and most are on course to meet the expected standard by the time they leave nursery. Standards for higher attaining children have improved since the last inspection when the provision was criticised; children’s ability to use their mathematical knowledge in practical situations is now much better. Staff concentrate on making sure children learn to count and recognise figures and include many opportunities within the topics they choose. They are encouraged to count in both English and in their mother tongue. Staff are successful because they practise these skills regularly, helping children to consolidate what they have just learned. Ashworth Nursery School 26 80. Although most of the children have only been in school for a short time, some can already count to ten and a few can count higher than this. They use their knowledge of number rhymes and counting games to reinforce this learning. The school has been successful in introducing elements of the

p.25

Mathematical Development

national numeracy strategy, such as regular mental arithmetic sessions. This was seen during story time when children were asked to work out how many of their friends were present and how many were absent. Most could count accurately and then recognise the figures that the adult wrote. Some higher attainers were able to work out simple sums using these same figures and then apply their knowledge in other situations. For example, working out how many aprons were available for children to use when they played with water.

p.26

Mathematical Development

81. Children are developing a good understanding of shape, space and measure. They can make comparisons and can recognise bigger and smaller objects around the nursery. Some are beginning to use simple mathematical language as when, for example, they describe the amount of water found in similar containers. “This one is full, put it behind the empty one over there”. They can also identify patterns and recreate some for themselves. For example, in one group the adult gave children jigsaws to complete. They were able to spot the repeating patterns and explain why the blocks would only fit in one way.

p.26

Mathematical Development

82. Children learn well and they make good progress in their mathematics. Those who are identified as having special educational needs and those who are learning English as an additional language make particularly good progress. This is because they receive a high level of skilled support and most achieve the targets set out in their individual education plans. Their work is very closely checked and adapted when necessary. Children’s records indicate that the progress they make is consistent throughout their time in nursery.

p.26

Mathematical Development

83. Children behave well and are keen to succeed. They have positive attitudes towards their work and concentrate very well. When they are required to work together to complete their tasks they do so sensibly. Their keenness and cooperation are significant factors in helping them reach the standards that they do.

p.26

Mathematical Development

84. The quality of teaching in mathematics is good in well over a half of lessons and the rest is satisfactory. In the most successful lessons, adults make good links with other activities, such as role play in the home area. This was set up as a post office. The adult introduced mathematical language slowly and sensitively making sure each group member was able to answer questions at their own level. Children were confident enough to take a risk even if they were not sure of the answer because they knew their group leader was always supportive and encouraging.

p.26

Mathematical Development

85. Planning is better than when the school was last inspected now that clear objectives are set for each lesson. Staff regularly monitor how effective their teaching has been by checking on what children have learnt by the end of an activity. This enables them to plan the next phase of work more accurately and to keep children’s learning purposeful.

p.26

Knowledge and Understanding of the World

86. The majority of children are on course to reach the expected standards by the time they leave nursery. They are provided with many good opportunities for learning through planned and well organised classroom activities. They respond well to these but often find difficulty in expressing their ideas because their language skills are not well developed. Ashworth Nursery School 27 87. Children are beginning to understand simple scientific processes. They learn to observe carefully and are curious about what they see. For example, in one lesson they were working out which objects might float or sink in water. Most could indicate what might happen and those children with no understanding of English were well supported by bilingual assistants who helped to ensure that limited language skills should not prevent them from taking part in the activity. Lessons such as these help to lay the basis for scientific understanding.

p.26

Knowledge and Understanding of the World

88. Most children can select construction materials sensibly and safely. They are good at planning what they want to make and know how different materials can be joined, showing good manipulative skills. A good example of this was seen when a small group of children joined plastic shapes onto a block of wood using a hammer and nails. They all knew what they needed to do to keep themselves safe.

p.27

Knowledge and Understanding of the World

89. They learn about the local area through discussion and are beginning to get a sense of the immediate past through recalling what activities they enjoyed yesterday.

p.27

Knowledge and Understanding of the World

90. Children’s attitudes are very good. They show curiosity and interest in the activities and are confident when using familiar resources such as jugs for water or construction materials. They show good levels of concentration as they work with jigsaws, make a paper stapler work or punch holes in paper.

p.27

Knowledge and Understanding of the World

91. Children are more confident in their use of information technology than when the school was last inspected. When working on the computer, they know that moving the mouse will make changes on the screen and some show good levels of competence in selecting from different options. All children, including those with special educational needs and those learning English as an additional language, are making good progress. This is due to better planned and interesting lessons, which have clear learning objectives and are adapted to meet the needs of individual children.

p.27

Knowledge and Understanding of the World

92. Some can recognise features of their local area and are developing an understanding about their own and other people’s cultures and beliefs. An example of this is seen in the way that festivals such as Christmas and Eid are celebrated. Good quality displays illustrate the cultural diversity found within the nursery.

p.27

Knowledge and Understanding of the World

93. Most of the teaching is good. This is because the teachers know the children so well and can plan work at a level that suits their individual requirements. They often group children according to their language skills. This allows them, for example, to remind each child what to look for when they are carrying out experiments with water. It also means they can clarify exactly what they know and understand before moving onto the next activity. This is particularly helpful when setting harder tasks for higher attainers. This did not happen enough in the past but is much better now. When the teaching is not so successful, it is usually because there is insufficient detail in the planning to support teachers' work, especially if they are new to the group.

p.27

Physical development

94. The majority of children are on course to meet the expected standards by the time they reach the end of the Foundation Stage.

p.27

Physical development

95. Children experience a good range of activities, indoors, to develop their physical skills. There are many opportunities throughout the session for children to develop manipulative skills. For example, they handle small tools such as paintbrushes, pencils, felt pens and glue spreaders with confidence as they make cards for their parents and write a greeting in them. Ashworth Nursery School 28 96. Teaching to promote physical skill development was good in half of the lessons and satisfactory in the rest.

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Physical development

97. The good teaching, which features good knowledge of skill to be developed, happens indoors. For example, adults carefully teach children to hold scissors correctly and some can use them with accuracy and safety to cut out pictures. Teachers develop children’s spatial awareness through music and movement activities and children dance with great enthusiasm and make good progress. A range of small equipment is available to the children in the large cloakroom area and, with the guidance of adults, children jump from hoop to hoop. The abilities of all the children are well known to all staff. Clear, simple instructions are given to those who are using English as an additional language to ensure they understand, can follow the instructions and make good progress. Children with special educational needs are well supported so they can achieve success. This has a significant effect on developing their

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Physical development

skills and willingness to accept new challenges.

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Physical development

98. The teaching, outdoors, is less successful because it is not always given a high enough priority throughout the school. There has been some improvement in the teachers' planning for physical development since the last inspection but the planning is still brief and does not always contain sufficient detail to focus the teaching outdoors. For example, some of the lessons concentrated on language development rather than the skills of running and jumping.

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Physical development

99. Children are less confident outdoors. With constant adult encouragement, they pedal and steer tricycles and push cars around a track. However, some timid children can lose interest in the activities, feel cold and wish to go back into school.

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Physical development

100. The school has good resources, indoors, to develop physical skills. Most resources for outdoors are appropriate but the resources for climbing are well worn, and lack challenge for some higher attainers.

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Physical development

101. Since the last inspection, the accommodation for physical development has been reviewed. Dance now takes place regularly on the large carpeted area in the nursery and the large cloakroom is now used to develop physical skills during the session. These changes have improved the provision because children have better access to this area of learning.

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Physical development

102. However, outdoor provision for physical development is still limited. The large sheds which take up a considerable amount of space on the playground restrict the variety of activities available to the children and increase the amount of adult supervision necessary for a successful lesson. This situation reduces the opportunities children have to develop physical skills and confidence.

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Creative Development

103. Children’s attainment in this area of learning is in line to meet the expected level by the end of the Foundation Stage. This is similar to the attainment found in the previous inspection. All children make good progress in improving their imaginative and creative skills.

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Creative Development

104. Children are enthusiastic and keen to become very involved in all creative activities, enjoying the freedom to express ideas and feelings. They draw, print, paint and make collages with great enthusiasm. Some children work on a large scale; for example, a group concentrated for long periods when making a child size shape of a Father Christmas and filling it in with collage materials. Most children use scissors, brushes and felt pens with confidence and fold, cut and glue competently when making Eid cards and Christmas cards. All develop their imagination when dressing up as fairies, for Ashworth Nursery School 29 example. Children enjoy music and many can sing and join in with familiar action songs and nursery rhymes. Some sing tunefully to the accompaniment of the guitar. The good use of voice and demonstration of actions and movements by staff enables most of the children to learn new words,

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Creative Development

105. The quality of the teaching in two thirds of the lessons was good and the rest was satisfactory.

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Creative Development

106. Teachers are good at organising the curriculum effectively and ensuring all activities are available on a daily basis. Careful discussion between staff and children as they choose shiny coloured paper, tinsel and glitter to make a collage develops their confidence and encourages individuality. Simple, clear instructions, ready praise and encouragement given to children learning English as an additional language ensures their success.

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Creative Development

107. However, the teaching is less successful when staff are only fleetingly involved in the role play. The pace of children’s learning slows and some opportunities to extend the play and introduce new language and vocabulary are missed. For example, when the adult left the ‘Post Office’ and became involved in a construction activity, the children playing in the post office could only point out and touch the goods they wished to purchase.

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Creative Development

108. Planning has improved since the last inspection. There is now a wide range of planned, practical activities covering all aspects of creative development. A good balance of activities is in place, some directed by adults and others chosen by the child. Resources are also better. There is now a wide range of appropriate, attractive, stimulating resources available to all.

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